Where else can you feed a giraffe! (South Lakes Wild Animal Park)

Member Name: wyvern9lb

Product:	South Lakes Wild Animal Park
Date:	29/06/09 (153 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: fantastic feeding all the different animals

Disadvantages: Lemurs will try to pinch your purse.

I love going to the Lakes for a holiday. My last Stay was at Bowness at a Lovely little B&B. Whilst I was there I decided to have a look at some leaflets to see where I could go for a visit. I picked up quite a few and took them back to comfort of my room for a closer look. One of the leaflets was for South lakes Wildlife Park. I was instantly attracted by the price and the fact that you can feed the animals. Therefore, the next day we set off to arrive at 10:30.

The place was sign clearly sign posted from Junction 36 of the M6 and very easy to follow (just follow the elephant). The little village we passed through was very pretty, but we missed our turning as you need to make a sharp (nearly U-turn) right in the Village. A piece of advice, once you make the right, keep an eye out for the park sign as you can easily drive past it (like we did).

The car park was a fair size; we were early enough to get a space close to the entrance. There was not much of a queue when we got there (15th May). The admission fee was £10.50 for an adult, Child (3-15) cost £8.00,
OAP: £8.00 and Under 3's goes FREE, which I thought was reasonable. You had the option to buy a guidebook for £2. l recommend you purchase, as not only does the guidebook contain a map of the wildlife park and the feeding times of all the animals, it contains a great deal of information on all the animals you will see in the park. You are also able to buy a bag of food for 50p, which you can feed a variety of different animals written on the bag (such as geese, ducks, emus and kangaroos) but please do not feed any other animals with this as they are on a special diet.

First animal feeding was the giraffe. We made our way over to the Arial platform where a helpful member of staff told us a little about their giraffes before handing out a leaf to anybody who wished to feed them. Of course, I was first in the queue, fighting off Toddlers to get my piece of twig. l was shocked by how big a giraffes head is. I just could not resist touching its nose as I gave him my twig (very soft if you wished to know, like velvet). A giraffe tongue was impressive, very versatile, if a bit Slimy. There was plenty of food so nobody was left out (I even got a few more chances to feed the giraffe, 5 times in total). In the same enclosure, you can see baboons and the rhinos. When we went there were many baby baboons. I enjoyed watching them playing. I was lucky to be there when they had the baby Rhino. It was fascinating watching it running around and having a great time. I actually got fantastic video footage on my camera of the baby rhino playing with its mother, along with chasing baboons and giraffes.

The lemurs in the park are allowed to roam free, so make sure you look after your bag or they will be in it. While I was there a lemur pinched a banana from the picnic table next to me. The only time they are all in one place is feeding time in the Madagascar area of the park. The member of staff gives a talk about how people have been hunting lemurs for their fur before giving out grapes to feed them. You could only feed the Lemurs if they were perched on a certain fence. You held the grape between your thumb and fingers and the lemurs gently take the grape with their teeth. As the lemurs used their paws to hold onto my hand, I notice how soft their pads were. Yet again there were plenty of food for everybody to have a go.

The Penguins were a bit on the smelly side, as you would expect. I did not realise how close you could get to these amazing birds, they were all around my feet. Just watch out they do not peck you as it does hurt (I know). They did not seem to bother with the amount of people in their enclosure. The member of staff gave everyone a fish to feed them. They were not as gentle as the giraffe or lemurs as they do tend to grab, which could be quite scary for a young Child.

The tiger feeding was simply amazing. Just the power of the big cats climbing the pole to reach their dinner (a raw chicken). If you want a great view of this fantastic spectacle, I suggest you make your way to the Arial platform in good time other wise you might not get a good view. I managed to get a superb view and got excellent film footage of the tiger biting into the Chicken and all the guts spurting out. They are hoping that their Sumatran tigers will mate as they are dangerously close to extinction they hope to release them back into the wild.

What surprised me the most was the lions are able to the same. I was under the impression that lions could not climb trees. How wrong l was. They have two lionesses and one lion and they are all feed on different days. They starve the lions one day, this is not to be cruel, this is to keep them in perfect condition (not fat cats). Before they feed I recommend you enter the lion house as they keep them in so they can put out chickens on the poles. I have never been so close to a lion (about 4m)

As far as the Layout of the park, all areas are within Short walking distance the park is Separated into different continents:

Africa:
African Lion, Black Footed Penguin, Giraffe, Hamadryas Baboon, Mandrill, Meerkat, Pygmy Hippo, White Rhino, Fennec Fox

Asia:
Amur Tiger, Rodrigues Fruit Bat

Australia:
Australian Ibis, Black Swan, Emu, Red Kangaroo, River Sand Wallaby, Swamp Wallaby, Western Grey Kangaroo, White Throated Wallaby

Indonesia:
Babirusa, Sulawesi Macaque, Indonesian Otter, Siamang, Sumatran Tiger, White Handed Gibbon

Madagascar:
Aloatran Gentle Lemur, Belted Ruffed Lemur, Black and White Ruffed Lemur, Black Lemur, Mongoose Lemur, Red Ruffed Lemur, Ring Tailed Lemur, White Fronted Brown Lemur

South America:
Andean Condor, Cotton Topped Tamarin, Geoffroys Marmoset, Emperor Tamarin, King Vulture, Lowland Tapir, Macaw, Spectacled Bear, Colombian Spider Monkey, Capybara, Scarlet Ibis, Squirrel Monkey, Brown Capuchin, Roseate Spoonbill

Rest Of The World:
Red Eared Terrapin, Tortoise, European White Stork, Snowy Owl, European Spoonbill,

All areas are wheel chair friendly. Although I would like to warn you that some of the slopes are quite steep (so make sure you have great hand brakes!).

You are allowed to bring your own food and drink into the park they have a special Picnic area next to the cafe (just keep an eye on those thieving Lemurs) I did try the cafe for a cup of tea which cost me £1.20. This is mostly self-service. They had a variety of different types of tea bags to choose from, along with a coffee machine. The member of staff at the till was very polite and friendly.

Park information

Website;
http://www.wildanimalpark.co.uk/wildlifepark_home .asp

Opening times:
3rd November 2008 - Easter 2009
10am - 4.30pm
Last admission 3.45pm
4th April 2009 - 1st November 2009
10am - 5.00pm
Last admission 4.15pm

Feeding times and talks :
11.30 pm Hand feed Giraffes - walkway inside if wet
12.00 pm Meet a snake and cure any fears
12.30 pm Apes and Monkeys feeding
1.00 pm Rhino conservation talk
1.30 pm Spectacled Bears
2.00 pm Lemurs - you can help us feed them
2.30 pm Tiger feeding - unique in Europe see video now
3.00 pm Penguin Feeding- Hand feed our colony of penguins
3.20 pm Vulture feeding
3.45 pm Giraffe conservation talk followed by
4.00 pm Hand feed giraffes
4.25 pm Lions attack their food up 6m high trees

location:
South Lakes Wild Animal Park is situated at the southern tip of the Lake District in the North West of England on the A590 trunk road.
Take Junction 36 from the M6 and follow signs for Barrow in Furness, until the brown Elephant Tourist Signs take over.

Summary: Great day out for all ages.